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MomentoThursday, December 31, 2015
1 John 2:18, 21 We could brainstorm about the nature of the antichrist, or antichrists. Enemies of God are a dime a dozen. We could join countless generations of Christians and, like them, wonder which chronos moment will mark the end of the End Times, looking for the best formula so we'll know ahead of time. How will I spend the last day of 2015? Tying up loose ends. Recapping events of the year. Drinking champagne and having a nice Italian dinner with Margaret. Making plans for next year. John writes to us "not because we do not know the truth, but because we do." I know better than to engage in recriminations about so many missed opportunities of last year. But I indulge myself a little and do it anyway. I know better than to make plans in the face of God's sovereignty in my life, but I ignore that fact and do it anyway. Can I get travel insurance in case God's plans get in the way of mine? I want to live in the moment, and there are 366 days of 24 hours and 1440 moments in 2016. Do the math. If we make it to the end of 2016, we'll live in and through 527,040 moments. Wow! God is good. All the time. And I have 527,040 moments next year to appreciate that, to thank him, and to pass on the gifts I'm given. And I have just this one last day to get ready. Or rather, I have one thousand, four hundred and forty moments. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice, and let me join in their song and sing! Bless your holy name, O Lord, day by day by day. Let the sea resound, and let me sing. Let the plains be joyful, and let me dance. Let the trees of the forest clap their hands, and let me laugh with joy, smile in peace, rest in your lap, Lord. Rest in you and with you, hundreds of times today. |
John wrote this two thousand years ago. I guess he wasn't thinking in terms of chronos time. His "last hour" does not end as the clock strikes midnight, nor does it end when the ball drops tonight in Times Square. John is thinking in kairos time - of the moment of fulfillment, the Right time, the opportune time when everything happens.